enough already

An extremely unfortunate tradition carries on: learning of a good friend's cancer diagnosis at the beginning of the summer. This is the third summer in a row. Pancreas, colon, now breast. Note to the universe: enough already. This needs to end. Please stop picking on my friends.

My friend J. has many many wonderful qualities, chief among them an unrelentingly sunny personality. She always manages to find the humor in every situation, no matter how grey. This news was no exception, confirmed when I received an invitation to her "boob voyage" party to say goodbye to her "breast" friends.

A colorful bra was the price of admission. I don't have a deep field in that department, so I had to resort to stopping at my favorite thrift store on the way to the party (hence the plastic bag background).

When I saw this one, I knew I had a winner, especially in the gallows humor department. It was well appreciated, at a party that had a clothes line strung up in the dining room to properly display the bra contributions. 

The cookies confirmed that I had made the right choice.

So many coping strategies are possible for tough situations. Panic, prayer, whining, shutting down, escape, denial, stoicism... but surely J.'s solution is one of the most effective, or at the very least the most fun. God, grant me the grace to do a better job of following her example.